The Vital Interview: Lloyd Doyley

LONG serving Hornet's defender Lloyd Doyley is testament to the conventional wisdom that attitude and application are everything in professional football. Raw talent as some might argue, counts for little.

Doyley made his first-team bow some 12 years ago this year and is on his seventh manager in Gianfranco Zola, and sings the praises of each.

"There`s a few similarities [between Zola and Vialli]. Both managers have brought in quite a few of their own players. I can remember in the Luca days we had quite a big squad, we do now - a good, strong squad. Back then we did as well. We didn`t play well as a team under Luca but we had a good squad,' contends Doyley.

'There are similarities there but personality-wise they`re completely different people. Zola`s more calm and collected; he likes to think of strategies to combat the other teams. I think under Vialli we just had good players, we went out there and tried to play, but that didn`t work as well."

Doyley also experienced playing with a team-mate who went on to become his manager, not once, but twice, with both Sean Dyche and Malky Mackay turning manager after lining up at the back with him:

"As a player he [Malky Mackay] was always coaching us anyway, telling us what he wanted. We always knew that he was going to become a coach. You can`t have the same amount of jokes with him, but I enjoyed him being a coach, he was a fun guy to be around.'

'When he became a manager, I always used to call him 'Malky` so calling him 'gaffer` or 'boss` was a little bit weird at the beginning. That`s the gradual thing that people do nowadays and you have to adapt."

Doyley has always been one for adapting, and with that in mind, it's no surprise to see the Whitechapel-born defender has become an integral part of Zola's side despite the influx of arrivals.

REMEMBER!This is only an extract of an interview which will be in Saturday's official matchday programme. Make sure to pick up a copy to read the full, feature-length Vital Interview with Lloyd!